Game #4603
Monday, 14 February 2000
Attendance: 31,591
Won
Premier League
8th (+1)
Middlesbrough
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟩
Riverside Stadium
Villa record successive 4-0 victories to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to eight.
Middlesbrough
0-4
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Julian Joachim | 11’ | Alan Wright | 75’ |
KEY MAN
Benito Carbone, set Villa on the way to another strong win, Monday, 14 February 2000.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
⚽ | 11’ Goal, 1-0, Benito Carbone, Assist by Julian Joachim
🕒 | HT Middlesbrough 0-1 Aston Villa
🔁 | 63’ Sub off, Paul Merson, Sub on, Lee Hendrie
⚽ | 65’ Goal, 2-0, Benito Carbone
⚽ | 70’ Goal, 3-0, Julian Joachim
🔁 | 73’ Sub off, George Boateng, Sub on, Ian Taylor
⚽ | 75’ Goal, 4-0, Julian Joachim, Assist by Alan Wright
🔁 | 84’ Sub off, David James, Sub on, Neil Cutler 🟢 🔴
🕒 | FT Middlesbrough 0-4 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Having scored four goals in the League for the first time this season last time out, Villa repeated the trick away from home to lift them to seventh in the table and lead them unbeaten in nine Premier League games.
Goalkeeper Neil Cutler made his sole Villa appearance aged 23 as a substitute for David James. Cutler joined from Chester City in November 1999 and moved on to Stoke City in July 2001 without added to his appearances. Cutler went on to become a key figure in Villa’s backroom staff in the 2020’s under Dean Smith.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96
Middlesbrough
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: ❌
FIXTURE HISTORY
Middlesbrough
Previous 5 vs. Middlesbrough: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟩
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1999-00 |
Matchday | #36 |
League Game | #25 |
Manager Game | #93 |
Monday, 14 February 2000
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: John Gregory | 🏴 | Scunthorpe, 1998-2002
Referee: Alan Wilkie | 🏴 | Chester-le-Street | 1988-2000
Kick off: 8.00pm
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
FT Score: 🟩 4-0
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟩
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Alan Wilkie | 🏴 | Chester-le-Street | 1988-2000
Previous 5: 🟥 🟥 🟨 🟩 🟨
Last Match: 🟨 22 January 2000, Villa 0-0 Chelsea, Villa Park.
Cards: 🟨 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Gareth Southgate replaces Colin Calderwood.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.94 |
Oldest Player |
M Paul Merson | 🏴 | 31.93 |
Youngest Player |
M Gareth Barry | 🏴 | 18.99 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
John Gregory | 🏴 |
Bryan Robson | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK David James | 🏴 | 🔁 |
RB Mark Delaney | 🏴 |
LB Alan Wright | 🏴 | 🔥 |
CB Ugo Ehiogu | 🏴 |
CB Gareth Southgate | 🏴 |
M Paul Merson | 🏴 | 🔁 |
M Steve Stone | 🏴 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 🔁 |
M Gareth Barry | 🏴 |
F Julian Joachim | 🏴 | ⚽ | ⚽ | 🔥 |
F Benito Carbone | 🇮🇹 | ⚽ | ⚽ |
Middlesbrough
GK Marlon Beresford | 🏴 |
LB Colin Cooper | 🏴 | 🟨 |
CB Gary Pallister | 🏴 |
RB Curtis Fleming | 🇮🇪 | 🔁 |
RB Gianluca Festa | 🇮🇹 | 🟨 |
M Juninho Paulista | 🇧🇷 |
M Mark Summerbell | 🏴 |
M Keith O'Neill | 🇮🇪 | 🔁 |
M Paul Gascoigne | 🏴 | 🤡 | 🔁 |
M Paul Ince | 🏴 |
CF Andy Campbell | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | M Lee Hendrie | 🏴 | for M Paul Merson | 🏴 | 63’ |
🔁 | M Ian Taylor | 🏴 | for M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 73’ |
🔁 | GK Neil Cutler | 🏴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | for GK David James | 🏴 | 84’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | RB Curtis Fleming | 🇮🇪 | (M Neil Maddison | 🏴 |)
🔁 | M Keith O'Neill | 🇮🇪 | (CF Alun Armstrong | 🏴 |)
🔁 | M Paul Gascoigne | 🏴 | (M Phil Stamp | 🏴 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
RB Jlloyd Samuel | 🏴 |
F Richard Walker | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Ben Roberts | 🏴 |
CB Jason Gavin | 🇮🇪 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 9/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 14/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 7/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Not recorded
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Abbreviations:
GK : Goalkeeper
LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back
CB, D : Centre Back, Defender
M, W : Midfielder. Winger
F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
DEBUT APPEARANCES
GK Neil Cutler | 🏴 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
GK Neil Cutler | 🏴 |
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE

PROGRAMME

MATCHDAY QUOTES
"When Carbone doubled his tally, quickly followed by two predatory strikes from Julian Joachim as the home defence went awol, the acrimony returned thick and fast.“
*The Guardian*
Tuesday, 15 February 2000
Another unedifying chapter in the life and times of Paul Gascoigne was chiselled into football’s hall of infamy here last night as his self-destructive streak resurfaced to end his season almost before it had begun.
The Middlesbrough midfielder was left with a broken left arm and no one to blame but himself, after announcing his return to first-team duty with a moment of madness that simply defied comprehension on another torrid Teesside night for Bryan Robson. Once again there were tears before bedtime, sympathy was in short supply. Experience has clearly taught Gascoigne precious little, for the challenge on George Boateng that left another substantial question mark hanging over his future was an act of violence.
One win in Boro’s previous 10 Premiership games had meant an ignominious tumble into the relegation quicksand, with their manager Bryan Robson admitting in his programme notes that “relegation was a reality” and the chairman Steve Gibson breaking with protocol this week to express his first signs of dissatisfaction about the minimal return on his multimillion-pound investment.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Hence the return of Paul Gascoigne after the bout of influenza that had rendered him unfit for training but apparently well enough to catch the Mike Tyson circus in Manchester. Once a decorated heavyweight himself, the artist formerly known as England’s best footballer was accorded a reception born out of misguided adulation by the home supporters.
Kevin Keegan was there to watch his progress as well, but Gascoigne’s night lasted little more than 40 minutes after he flattened Boateng, the visiting midfielder, with a forearm smash that Giant Haystacks would have been chuffed with. It was seemingly missed by the referee Alan Wilkie but, as with Gascoigne’s infamous contribution to the 1991 FA Cup final, it backfired spectacularly as it rapidly became apparent he had been a victim of his own recklessness. Yet again English football was treated to the depressing sight of Gascoigne being carried off on a stretcher, attempting with little success to conceal a tear-stained face.
It was widely assumed Keegan was at the Riverside to run the rule over Paul Merson on a caustic night for the Villa forward against his former employers. After his messy departure the atmosphere brimmed with vitriol, but it was not long before the ire of the home supporters was redirected at their own players.
Few were exempt from the criticism that rained down from every corner of the stadium once Gianluca Festa had been caught in possession to present Benito Carbone with the opportunity to fire Villa into an 11th-minute lead. The bitter irony was that the two Italians had been close allies since their days together at Internazionale, but the breakdown in relationships was becoming a theme for the night.
As the news filtered through the ground the mood became one of depression. But when Carbone doubled his tally, quickly followed by two predatory strikes from Julian Joachim as the home defence went awol, the acrimony returned thick and fast. “Robson, what’s the score?” inquired the home fans. But this will be remembered as another of those Gazza nights.